Medical Scholars Program

An important part of IDSA’s mission is to promote the subspecialty of infectious diseases by attracting the best and brightest medical students to the field. To further this goal, the IDSA Education and Research Foundation offers scholarships to medical students in U.S. and Canadian medical schools with mentorship by an IDSA member or fellow. It is the responsibility of IDSA members and fellows to identify and solicit interested students.

Award Amount

Each scholarship recipient will receive $2,000: $1,500 to be disbursed in April/May, with the remaining $500 awarded at the conclusion of the project and submission of a final report to IDSA. Recipients are also given complimentary IDSA membership.

How to Apply

Complete applications must include the following:

Projects should be classified as belonging to one of the following categories:

Clinical Infectious Diseases Preceptorship

Clinical Research

Epidemiology

International Health

Laboratory Research

Prevention

Cover letter from applicant indicating reasons for applying for the scholarship and an explanation of work/study being planned (to include location and duration of the activity). Cover letters should not exceed two pages in length.

Letter from IDSA member/fellow serving as mentor/preceptor. Letters should not exceed two pages in length.

Applications will be judged and selected based on the positive exposure to the field of infectious diseases provided by the planned scholarship activity.

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

Applicants will be notified of the award decisions by mid-April.

IDSA is pleased to announce the 2015 Medical Scholars. The Medical Scholars Program was established in 2002 and has awarded over 500 medical students interested in the sub-specialty of infectious diseases the opportunity to pursue independent clinical or research activities outside their institutional program and explore the field of infectious diseases. It helps attract the best and brightest to the field by giving medical students a first-hand look at the challenges and opportunities of working in infectious disease.

Britt Anderson, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO. "Differential Gene Expression in Individuals with Lymphatic Filaraisis after Treatment, and the Development of Adverse Events." Mentor: Gary Weil, MD, FIDSA.

Brandon Berger, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL. "Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Treatment with Meglumine Antimoniate and Miltefosine in the Pediatric Population in Colombia." Mentor: Allison Bartlett, MD.

Kayla Briggs, University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO. "Enterovirus D68 Illness in Hospitalized Children under 2 Years of Age." Mentor: Jennifer Schuster, MD, MSCI.

Ignacio Cerdena, Yale School of Medicine, New Have, CT. "Developing a Community Health Worker TB Screening Intervention and Testing its Effectiveness in a Latin American Prison: A Quasi-Experimental Trial." Mentor: Frederick Altice, MD, MA.

Chanelle Diaz, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL. "Cardiovascular Morbidity and Mortality and the Association with Antiretroviral Exposure in a Cohort of HIV-Infected Patients from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2000-2010." Mentor: Jesse Clark, MD, MSc.

Ayako Wendy Fujita, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA. "Antimicrobial Resistance in Blood Isolates at a Tertiary Hospital in Uganda and the Urgent Need for Standardized Reporting and a National Surveillance Program." Mentor: Joshua Rhein, MD.

Monika Jelic, University of Washington School of Medicine, Spokane, WA. "The Use of Antibiotics with Activity Against Gram Negative Bacteria in Pediatric Populations." Mentor: Danielle Zerr, MD, MPH.

Nikeshan Jeyakumar, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL. "Prevalence of Coccidioidomycosis in a Population of Organ Donors at a Single Organ Procurement Organization." Mentor: Peter Chin-Hong, MD.

Wallace Jones, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO. "UTIDecide: Mobile Decision Support to Reduce Overtreatment of Bacteriuria in Long Term Care Residents." Mentor: Barbara Trautner, MD, PhD, FIDSA.

Anna Kress, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons New York, NY. "The Role of Bile Acids on Colonization with Carbapenam-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) After Liver Transplantation." Mentor: Anne-Catrin Uhlemann, MD, PhD.

Anu Ramachandran, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. "Evaluating the Cost-Effectiveness of CRAG-LFA Screening to Reduce Cryproccal Mortality Among People Living with HIV in Uganda." Mentor: Maunank Shah, MD, PhD.